Don't Stop Running

Chapter 1

We were running, our breath unsteady and rapid.

"I think we can stop," panted the girl I rescued, "We're far enough."

I nodded, agreeing. We stopped where we were, the desert road covered in sand. The sun was just past sunrise, we started running at dawn. I was gasping trying to catch my breath, the dry desert heat making the air feel like sand paper.

"I think my old base is around here. Dracs might have ransacked it, but there will be clothes and hopefully food. We can't stay there long though, that will be the first place they come looking for me," I said, turning in a 360 circle trying to gather my surroundings.

"Where's it at?"

I looked at a road sign.

"We need to go north about a mile, there's an exit off this highway. We take that then head east."

The girl nodded. "Flaming Eagle."

"Blind Bomber," I smiled, reaching my hand out.

She took it and shook it.

"Thank you for saving my ass back there. I owe you big time."

"It's no problem. Let's get going, we can make it there by mid day."

We started north towards exit 77. We talked along the way and learned about each other. Flaming Eagle was a hair stylist before all this mess. She had a brother that passed during the Helium Wars while he served. She was wanted for torturing and killing a drac "for fun" as she put it.

I told her about how I served during the Helium Wars building and designing weaponry. Korse wanted me to come work for him after he learned about my expertise, but I refused. After that I was wanted by BL/Ind so I ran and ended up with my last group.

We found the exit and jogged down it to get off the highway.

"Okay, about two miles east. We'll branch off this road after that, we were holed up in a little one bedroom house," I said.

Flame nodded and we continued to walk. We were more cautious now that we were in a small town. The old homes and businesses looking sad, most of them burned to the ground. I kept an eye out for any white new cars or bikes, those were the first sign of bad news. We continued to walk and eventually made it to the house, thankfully not running into any trouble.

I cautiously opened the door, listening for any sign of life. I stood there a moment, not hearing anything, so I opened the door further and walked inside. The house was tore apart, the couch cushions in all corners of the room, cans of Power Pup knocked off the counter. After closer inspection, I noticed there was dried blood on almost every surface. I shiver ran down my spine. They killed my old team.

"Let's just get what we need to get and go. I'm going to grab some bags, follow me and I'll get you some clothes. We'll change, grab food and water then go. There's another town in Zone 5, we'll get there around dusk if we stay vigilant and on track," I sighed, turning to Flaming Eagle.

I turned and started walking to the bedroom, Flame following me. I nudged open the door, doing the same thing that I did for the front door. I heard no sound, so I entered the room. I quickly grabbed two back packs, tossing one to Flame. I opened a drawer in the dresser and quickly started rummaging for clothes. I pulled out a pair of yellow skinny jeans, a white skeleton tank and a pair of thick socks, handing them over.

Flame grabbed them and immediately started to strip. I opened my drawer in the dresser, all of my old clothes still in their place. I glanced over the drawer and started quickly grabbing clothes. I put on some electric blue ripped skinnies, and a black tank top. I looked over to the closet and remembered I had my back up jacket in there. I opened it up, seeing my purple denim jacket in there.

I smiled and took it off the hanger and threw it over my shoulders. I grabbed a red leather jacket for Flame and handed it to her.

"Here's a bandanna and some sun glasses too. That's gonna have to make do as a mask for now."

We both shoved an extra pair of clothes in the bags then made our way back up front. We grabbed cans of power pup and put them into our bags and I found a single water bottle filled with water. I shrugged, it will have to do.

I sighed and looked at this place one last time.

"You ready?" I asked.

"As ready as you can be," nodded Flame.

We both started walking out the door and I closed it behind me and we made our way back to the highway.

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So i decided to re-write this story again, even though it's probably irrelevant at this point. Enjoy!